Method and apparatus for packaging jars and like articles in cartons

ABSTRACT

Jars or the like are arranged in columns and rows on a conveyor plate which is provided with longitudinal and transverse slots to permit partition strips to be passed upwardly therethrough for placement between said columns and rows of jars or the like. Partition strip inserting means arranged beneath the conveyor plate, collect partition strips from magazines and insert them upwardly through said slots. Partition strips at one partition strip inserting station are inserted at right angles to those inserted at the next immediate station, the last-mentioned strips serving to force the firstmentioned strips upwardly between said columns or rows of jars or the like. The jars or the like with partition strips inserted are then packed into cartons or bound together by suitable binding material.

United States Patent .1 3,694,994 Corderoy 1 Oct. 3, 1972 [54] METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR 3,354,602 11/1967 Doets ..53/26 X PACKAGING JARS AND LIKE ARTICLES IN C ARTONS Primary Examiner-Theron E. Condon Inventor. Henry Morgan Cordemy Assistant Examiner-Eugene F. Desmond 9 l Gladesville, New South Wales, Aus- Attorney Ryder ay & Heft v 57 ABSTRACT [73] Assign: 8 m Jars or the like are arranged in columns and rows on a boume vlctona Austraha conveyor plate which is provided with longitudinal 22 Filed; 1,1970 and transverse slots to permit partition strips to be passed upwardly therethrough for placement between [21] APPL 94,076 said columns and rows of jars or the like.

Partition strip inserting means arranged beneath the Foreign APphcatlon y conveyor plate, collect partition strips from magazines Dec. 2, 1969 Australia .64585/69 and insert them upwardly thmugh Said Sims- Partition strips at one partition strip inserting station [52] US. Cl ..53/26, 53/ 157 ar i serted at right angles to those inserted at the [5 1] Int. Cl. next immediate station, the last.mentioned trips ge -v- Field of Search 242 ing to force the first-mentioned strips upwardly between said columns or rows of jars or the like. [56] References cued The jars or the like with partition strips inserted are UNITED STATES PATENTS then packed into cartons or bound together by suitable binding material. 3,125,840 3/1964 Cross....;. ..53/157 3,350,836 1l/l967 Dillon et a1. ..53/242 X 9 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDHBI 3 I972 sum 1 or 3 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING JARS AND LIKE ARTICLES IN CARTONS This invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for packaging jars, bottles and like objects in cardboard cartons or in bound packages and refers more particularly to a method and apparatus for inserting partition strips between rows and columns of such articles.

In our U.S.A. Pat. application Ser. No. 37,207 there is disclosed a method and apparatus for inserting partition strips between rows and columns of bottles and the like in cartons said partition strips being inserted from the top of the carton.

The present invention relates to a somewhat similar method of insertion of partition strips but whereas in the aforesaid patent application the bottles were already arranged in the carton, the present invention relates to the insertion of partition strips between rows and/or columns of jars or the like before the jars or the like are loaded into the cartons or bound together and furthermore the partition strips are inserted from beneath the jars or the like which are arranged on a conveyor plate, instead of from the top as described in our aforesaid patent application.

In accordance with one broad form of the invention which may be preferred, there is provided a method of packaging jars or the like comprising the steps of arranging the jars or the like in rows and columns on a conveyor plate, delivering partition strips to partition strip inserting means adapted to insert partition strips from a position directly beneath said conveyor plate and actuating said partition strip inserting means whereby said partition strips are passed upwardly through said conveyor plate for placement between said rows and columns of jars or the like, and securing said jars or the like together. The securing may be effected by placing the jars or the like into cartons or by binding them together by paper or like binding material.

In accordance with one feature of the invention the jars or the like are arranged in rows and columns on a horizontal conveyor plate, said conveyor plate being provided with a pair of longitudinal slots the distance between which is equal to the diameter of jars or like articles carried on said conveyor plate and theconveyor plate is further provided with transverse slots the distance between which is also equal to the diameter of said jars or like articles to permit the insertion of transverse partition strips between said rows or columns of jars or the like. Accordingly the conveyor plate is divided both longitudinally and transversely into a plurality of rectangular sections, the widths of which are equal to the diameter of said jars or the like carried by said conveyor plate. When articles of different diameter are arranged on the conveyor plate a different conveyor plate is substituted thereby ensuring that the dimensions of said rectangular sections are substantially equal to the diameter of articles carried thereby.

The invention also resides in apparatus for inserting partition strips between rows and columns of jars or the like, comprising a substantially horizontal conveyor plate having longitudinal and transverse slots therein, means for delivering partition strips to partition strip inserting means and means actuating said partition strip inserting means whereby partition strips are inserted upwardly through said longitudinal and/or transverse slots for placement between rows and/or columns of jars or the like mounted on said conveyor plate.

According to one further feature of the invention means are provided for moving batches of said jars or the like from a first partition strip inserting station to one or more additional partition strip inserting stations for the insertion of longitudinal and/or transverse partition strips.

The invention may be more readily understood from the following description of a preferred form of the invention wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatical elevational view of a partition strip inserting mechanism for inserting transverse strips,

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatical elevational view of a partition strip inserting mechanism for inserting longitudinal strips,

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a conveyor showing three partition strip inserting stations,

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a typical method of cutting partition strips from a blank,

FIG. 5 is a perspective view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3 showing the manner of assembly of the partition strips after the conveyor has passed through three inserting stations,

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate modified partition strips and the manner of cutting them from a blank.

In accordance with the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings a batch of jars or the like 10 are arranged in rows 11 or columns 12 on a horizontal conveyor plate 13 which is substantially U-shaped in cross section (See FIG. 2), said conveyor plate 13 being adapted to locate said jars 10 in proper placement thereon. The conveyor plate is provided with longitudinal and transverse slots 14, 15 respectively in the base thereof said slots 14, 15 being spaced apart a distance equal to the diameter of said jars or the like 10 so that each jar or the like is arranged centrally on a rectangular section 16, 17 of conveyor plate. The rectangular sections 16 are defined by the transverse slots 15 and the sections 17 are defined by the longitudinal slots 14.

Preferably the jars are arranged in position on the conveyor plate by being delivered thereto by means of a horizontally operated plunger 18 adapted to engage the rearmost row of a batch of jars or the likebetween which partition strips are to be inserted. The plunger delivers the jars or the like to a first partition strip inserting station A wherein a partition strip 19 is inserted between each adjacent row 11 of jars or the like, i.e. transversely of the conveyorplate 13.

The first partition strip inserting station (See FIG. 1) has a pair of arms '20 adapted to receive partition strips 19 from a pair of magazines 21 each of which contains a stack of partition strips, said magazines being spaced apart whereby the partition strip receiving arms 20 are arranged centrally between said magazines, each of said arms being pivotable through an angle of from v a horizontal partition strip receiving position to a vertical partition strip inserting position. The partition strips 19 are delivered to said arms from the magazines by means of feed plates 22 adapted to eject the lowermost partition strip from said magazines into said pair of arms 20 each of which has spring loaded finger 23 for retaining said strips. The arms 20 are then pivoted through 90 to a vertical position ready for insertion of said strips 19 between rows of jars on said conveyor plate at said first station A. The magazines and arms are mounted outside the line of but adjacent one side of said conveyor plate 13 and thus after receiving the partition strips the arms 20 are first required to be moved horizontally from beside the conveyor to a position beneath said conveyor plate and thus beneath said transverse slots 15 in said conveyor plate. A vertically movable plunger 24 is arranged to move between said arms 20 whereby extensions 25 of the plunger 24 engage the partition strips 19 carried by said arms and carry said partition strips 19 upwardly for insertion through said transverse slots 15 in the conveyor plate 13 between adjacent rows of jars. The plunger extensions 25 remain in position against the underside of the conveyor plate until the batch of jars is carried away from the slots 15 thereby ensuring that the partition strips 19 do not fall out.

As the plunger 24 returns to its lowermost position and the arms are moved horizontally away from beneath the conveyor plate to their partition strip receiving position, the horizontal plunger 18 moves said batch of jars or the like to a second partition strip inserting station B wherein a similar operation is car- 1 ried out except that at said second station B the partition strips are inserted between said adjacent columns 12 of jars or the like and thus are inserted through the longitudinal slots 14 in the conveyor plate. At said second station B. the magazines 26 of partition strips 27 are arranged at each side of the conveyor plate and the partition inserting arms 28 are required to move only through an angle of 90 from a partition strip receiving position to a partition strip inserting position. The arms 28 at this station B are .arrangeddirectly beneath the conveyor plate 13 and thus it is not necessary for the arms to be moved horizontally for proper positioning beneath said conveyor plate. I

After insertion of the strips 27 at the second station B said batch of jars or the like may be moved by said horizontal plunger 18 a further partition strip inserting station C for the insertion of transverse partition strips 29. The manner of insertion of the partition strips 29 is identical with that of insertion of the transverse strips 19 at the first station A.

The insertion of the transverse partition strips 29 after the insertion of longitudinal partition strips 27 and transverse strips 19 causes the preceding partition strips 19, 27 to be pushed upwardly between said jars or the like thereby providing partitions'of a'height substantially equal to the height of said jars or the like. The number of operations of insertion of partition strips is determined by the number of jars or the like in each column or row, the width of said partition strip material and/or the height of said jars or the like. Thus, two or more partition inserting operations may be necessary.

After the partition strips have been inserted, the batch of jars or the like with partition strips therebetween are dropped into a carton, or alternatively a carton is placed over said jars or the like prior to their removal from the conveyor plate.

Instead of being placed in cartons the jars or the like, with partition strips inserted, may bebound together by passing a strip of paper or other suitable binding material around the outer rows and columns of jars or the like and fixing the end of the binding material by adhesive, staples or the like.

The partition strips may be of any desired configuration but preferably at least one edge is castellated as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 in which case said co-acting portions of transverse and longitudinal partition strips engage at said cut out portions 30. Such configuration is suitable when two partition inserting operations are sufficient.

In accordance with the form of partition strip shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 a plurality of castellated partition strips may be cut from a single sheet in which case both edges of said strip are castellated. Such configuration is desirable when three or more inserting operations are necessary.

These two methods of cutting partition strips from blanks are particularly satisfactory as there is very little wastage, the wastage in each case being shown by the shaded area 31.

' through said conveyor plate for placement between said rows and columns of jars or the like and securing said jars or the like together. 7

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the jars or the like are secured together bybeing placed in a carton.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the jars or the like are secured together by binding them with binding material around the outer rows and columns of jars or the like and fixing the end of said binding material to prevent unwinding thereof.

4. A method of packaging jars or the like into cardboard cartons, comprising the steps of arranging the jars or the like in rows and columns on a conveyor plate, advancing said rows and columns of bottles to a first partition strip inserting station; delivering partition strips to partition strip inserting means adapted to insert partition strips between adjacent rows or columns of jars or the like from a position directly beneath said conveyor plateand actuating said partition strip inserting means whereby said partition strips are passed upwardly through slots in said conveyor plate for placement between said rows or columnsof jars or the like; withdrawing said partition strip inserting means and advancing said jars or the like to a second partition strip inserting station; delivering further partition strips to a second partition strip inserting means adapted to insert said further partition strips between adjacent columns or rows of said jars or the like from a position directly beneath said conveyor plate, and actuating said second partition strip inserting means whereby said further partition strips are passed upwardly through second slots in said conveyor for placement between said columns or rows; said second partition strip inserting means and said second slots being arranged to deliver said further partition strips at right angles to said partition strips, said partition strips being forced upwardly between said adjacent rows or columns as said further partition strips are inserted; advancing said jars or the like as required to a further station or stations for repetition of the aforesaid steps, the or each additional partition strips being inserted at right angles to the strips immediately previously inserted and finally securing said jars or the like together.

5. Apparatus for packaging jars or the like, comprising a substantially horizontal conveyor plate having alternate groups of longitudinal and transverse slots therein, means for delivering partition strips to partition strip inserting means adapted to insert partition strips from a position beneath said conveyor plate and means actuating said partition strip inserting means whereby partition strips are inserted upwardly through said longitudinal and/or transverse slots for placement between rows and/or columns of jars or the like mounted on said conveyor plate.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein means are provided for advancing batches of said jars or the like from a first partition strip inserting station to one or more additional partition strip inserting stations for insertion alternately of longitudinal and transverse partition strips.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 characterized in being arranged at right angles to the slots at the preceding station, the slots at each station being so arranged as to accommodate a row or column of jars or the like between adjacent slots, said slots being spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the diameter of said jars or the like.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said partition strip inserting means comprises a pair of pivotal arms adapted in a horizontal position, to receive partition strips from a pair of magazines, said arms being pivotable through an angle of 90 to a vertical position for engagement by a vertically movable plunger whereby the partiton strips are removed from said arms by said plunger and pushed upwardly throughsaid slots in the conveyor plate for placement between adjacent rows or columns of jars or the like mounted on said that said conveyor plate is provided with a plurality of spaced transverse or longitudinal slots at two or more partition strip inserting stations the slots at each station conveyor plate.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said partition strip inserting means comprises a pair of magazines, a vertically movable plunger, and a pair of pivotal arms, each arm provided with a spring loaded finger for retaining said partition strips securely until stripped therefrom by said plunger, said arms being adapted in a horizontal position to receive partition strips from said pair of magazines, said arms being pivotable through an angle of to a vertical position for engagement by said plunger whereby the partition strips are removed from said arms by said plunger and pushed upwards through said slots in the conveyor plate for placement between adjacent rows or columns of jars or the like mounted on said conveyor plate. 

1. A method of packaging jars or the like comprising the steps of arranging the jars or the like in rows and columns on a conveyor plate, delivering partition strips to partition strip inserting means adapted to insert partition strips from a position beneath said conveyor plate and actuating said partition strip inserting means whereby said partition strips are passed upwardly through said conveyor plate for placement between said rows and columns of jars or the like and securing said jars or the like together.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the jars or the like are secured together by being placed in a carton.
 3. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the jars or the like are secured together by binding them with binding material around the outer rows and columns of jars or the like and fixing the end of said binding material to prevent unwinding thereof.
 4. A method of packaging jars or the like into cardboard cartons, comprising the steps of arranging the jars or the like in rows and columns on a conveyor plate, advancing said rows and columns of bottles to a first partition strip inserting station; delivering partition strips to partition strip inserting means adapted to insert partition strips between adjacent rows or columns of jars or the like from a position directly beneath said conveyor plate and actuating said partition strip inserting means whereby said partition strips are passed upwardly through slots in said conveyor plate for placement between said rows or columns of jars or the like; withdrawing said partition strip inserting means and advancing said jars or the like to a second partition strip inserting station; delivering further partition strips to a second partition strip inserting means adapted to insert said further partition strips between adjacent columns or rows of said jars or the like from a position directly beneath said conveyor plate, and actuating said second partition strip inserting means whereby said further partition strips are passed upwardly through second slots in said conveyor for placement between said columns or rows; said second partition strip inserting means and said second slots being arranged to deliver said further partition strips at right angles to said partition strips, said partition strips being forced upwardly between said adjacent rows or columns as said further partition strips are inserted; advancing said jars or the like as required to a further station or stations for repetition of the aforesaid steps, the or each additional partition strips being inserted at right angles to the strips immediately previously inserted and finally securing said jars or the like together.
 5. Apparatus for packaging jars or the like, comprising a substantially horizontal conveyor plate having alternate groups of longitudinal and transverse slots therein, means for delivering partition strips to partition strip inserting means adapted to insert partition strips from a position beneath said conveyor plate and means actuating said partition strip inserting means whereby partition strips are inserted upwardly through said longitudinal and/or transverse slots for placement between rows and/or columns of jars or the like mounted on said conveyor plate.
 6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein means are provided for adVancing batches of said jars or the like from a first partition strip inserting station to one or more additional partition strip inserting stations for insertion alternately of longitudinal and transverse partition strips.
 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 characterized in that said conveyor plate is provided with a plurality of spaced transverse or longitudinal slots at two or more partition strip inserting stations the slots at each station being arranged at right angles to the slots at the preceding station, the slots at each station being so arranged as to accommodate a row or column of jars or the like between adjacent slots, said slots being spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the diameter of said jars or the like.
 8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said partition strip inserting means comprises a pair of pivotal arms adapted in a horizontal position, to receive partition strips from a pair of magazines, said arms being pivotable through an angle of 90* to a vertical position for engagement by a vertically movable plunger whereby the partiton strips are removed from said arms by said plunger and pushed upwardly through said slots in the conveyor plate for placement between adjacent rows or columns of jars or the like mounted on said conveyor plate.
 9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said partition strip inserting means comprises a pair of magazines, a vertically movable plunger, and a pair of pivotal arms, each arm provided with a spring loaded finger for retaining said partition strips securely until stripped therefrom by said plunger, said arms being adapted in a horizontal position to receive partition strips from said pair of magazines, said arms being pivotable through an angle of 90* to a vertical position for engagement by said plunger whereby the partition strips are removed from said arms by said plunger and pushed upwards through said slots in the conveyor plate for placement between adjacent rows or columns of jars or the like mounted on said conveyor plate. 